Profile of EXO

Debut and Success

EXO was formed by the founder of SM Entertainment, Lee Soo Man. He presented the idea of a boy group from China and South Korea, divided into sub-groups which would promote in different places at the same time, mainly their homelands, as well as record the same songs in both Chinese and Korean for the specified market.

There were rumors since 2008 among SM fans that there will be new boy group coming out with the name EXO.

The specific member formation started in early 2011 when Lee Soo-man announced that the group would actually debut.

In late 2011, teaser movie was released, and the homepage opened. Up to March 2012, twenty-three teaser movies were released.

Every fan was itching for the group’s debut. Finally, on April 8th in 2012, EXO made its debut. The three-month gap between the first release of the teaser and the debut was for a 100 days global promotion, a strategy of the agency to let people in the world know the name.

In March 2013, EXO held concerts in Seoul and Beijing.

In April 2013, EXO-K and EXO-M separately promoted their official debut single “Mama”, which peaked at number 2 in China and number 1 in South Korea.

In November 2013, EXO won the “Best New Artist” award.

Their 1st studio album “XOXO” was released in June 2013, with the Korean version being “Kiss” and Chinese version being “Hug”.

The title single for the album was “Wolf”, and while the album itself was promoted only in South Korea, both versions of the album peaked at number 1.

“XOXO” was re-released in August 2013, titled “Growl” and with a few new tracks added; “Growl” reached the top of all Korean single charts, and “XOXO” was voted as the album of the year, making EXO the first K-pop group to sell over 1 million album copies in 12 years.

EXO recorded a show, “EXO Showtime”, through which they promoted their new EP “Miracles”; in 2013, EXO had 6 albums on the yearly chart in S.Korea.

Their 3rd EP “Overdose” was released and promoted separately through May 2014: the album was pre-ordered in 660 000 copies, the most pre-orders in history.

EXO also hit number 1 in the Japanese charts, and won “Album of the year” for “Overdose”.

In 2014, Chinese members Kris and Luhan sued the label for numerous violations of contracts and general human rights; they both left the group soon after and EXO went down to ten members.

In May 2014, EXO held a concert in Seoul, which was sold out in 1.47 seconds, online.

EXO’s 2nd album, “Exodus” was released in May 2015, and promoted in both Korean and Mandarin.
The title track of the album was “Call me baby”, which had the most views on YouTube during the whole first half of 2015; by the end of the year, the album sold over a million copies, and was named the album of the year.

However, a storm was approaching: member Tao and his father sued SM Entertainment for mistreatment, which ended up in Tao’s departure from the group, as well as the label.

In June 2015, they re-released “Exodus” and titled it “Love me right”.

In 2015, EXO debuted in Japan. They recorded a song for the Korean premiere of the new Star Wars sequel, and had an international tour.

Debut in Japan

EXO had concerts and tours before their official debut in Japan. They first had a concert and a fan meeting at Saitama Super Arena in April 2014.

EXO debuted in Japan in 2015, when they performed a three-day live event called “Exo’luxion” at the Tokyo Dome.

Tokyo Dome is usually reserved for groups with longer-running careers, so EXO broke a record for performing so shortly after their debut, and for three consecutive days in front of around 150 000 people.

In November 2015, EXO released the Japanese single “Love me right – romantic universe -“, with one original Japanese song and the Korean version of “Love me right”.

On November 4th, 2015 the group made their official debut with a single with title song “Love Me Right ~romantic universe~.” It was ranked the first in Oricon daily chart, weekly chart, and 3rd in monthly chart.

EXO sold 147 000 copies of the single “Love me right” on the very day of its release, which made them the Korean artist with the most sold albums in Japan.

EXO was also featured on Apple Music’s homepage after their 2015 single “Unfair” hit the top of many charts; they were the first Korean group to be featured like this.

They were voted as one of 10 pop culture leaders in 2015 by many prominent entertainment industry leaders.

In February 2016, EXO went on a North American tour, a part of “Exo’luxion”, and visited Los Angeles, Vancouver, Dallas, New Jersey and Chicago; the same month, they were voted as the most powerful celebrities of 2015, by the Forbes Korea magazine.

Their album “Ex’Act” topped the United World Chart, breaking the record at over 520 000 sold singles within a week; the title track “Monster” topped the Billboard Chart in USA, as well as the iTunes chart in 7 different countries around the world.

About

Suho is the leader of the group EXO, as well as the subgroup EXO-K. He is the oldest in EXO-K.

He has had a good education and a long life experience as a trainee.

He dreamed of becoming a singer since he was in elementary school. He was scouted in the streets by an SM manager when he was in junior high school.

He went to the Seoul Performing Arts High School, and then continued his studies at the Korea National University of Arts.

However, he had to drop out of university because of his busy career. He is currently enrolled at Kyung Hee Cyber University.

He expressed a love for reading throughout many interviews, and said that, if he weren’t a singer, he’d love to be a teacher.

Suho has some experience at training and is known for working hard, as he prepared for 7 years before finally becoming leader of one of the most famous boy bands in South Korea and the world.

He is very kind and acts like a caretaker of the group. His motto is “know yourself”, and he always expresses self-control, discipline, but also a deep enjoyment in life. Suho seems like an old soul in a young man’s body, and he’s a great leader because of it.

In July 2016, Suho released a solo track with Leeteuk from Super Junior, titled “My Hero”.

Quick Facts

1. Other members have testified that his family is very rich.
2. The most bad-adolescent thing he has ever done is sleeping at a public sauna after a fight with his older brother. And he asked his mother for the permission.
3. Although he was born in 1991, he went to school early with 1990 borns. He is friend other SM members born in 1990.
4. He dressed as a girl once in a concert. Since then, fans are calling him Unni, the older sister in Korean, because it fit him very well.
5. He cares for his skin very much.
6. He said his ideal girl is who seems quiet and liking books but very active and mischievous inside.
7. He likes Evangelion, the Japanese comic.
8. There was a bad rumor about his father which turned out to be a lie.
9. He likes to check his reputation on the internet.
10. He is called pharmacy of the group because he carries many medicines.
11. Suho was an apprentice for 7 years before debuting with EXO.
12. His favorite food is sushi.
13. His favorite colors are purple and gold.
14. He likes the dandy style of fashion and clothing.
15. He is Buddhist.
16. His ideal girl is someone smaller than him, with beautiful skin and long hair.
17. He has a dog named Byul (Star).
18. He said that if he weren’t a singer, he’d be a professor.
19. He admires Kyuhyun from Super Junior.
20. His favorite book is “The Little Prince”.

About

Baekhyun belongs to the groups EXO and EXO-K. He is very amiable and becomes friends with everyone.

Baekhyun is famous as the member who always had fans, whether while being in a rock band in high school or in EXO.

He was also voted as one of the prettiest faces in South Korea in 2014, but he never thought of himself as handsome – he said that the first thing he thought of while meeting other EXO members was “they’re all so handsome!”.

But Baekhyun got his fair share of fans and a large fandom, and is very loved among both his bandmates and audiences.

Baekhyun did some solo activities, for example when he sang the song “Dream” in a duet with Suzy in January 2016, which brought them enormous critical and public acclaim and many awards.

He also sang with K.Will on his single “The Day” in May 2016, and further back in 2014 he sang the song “You are my lucky star” with Sunny from Girls’ Generation.

He is the mood maker of the groups. According to other members, when he joined the group, the practice room became very noisy with chatters.

Quick Facts

1. He can become friends with anyone in seconds.
2. He likes to tease other members.
3. He is called a genius idol or born to be an idol because of the professionalism in his performance.
4. He rushes into talk right after singing in a concert because of his impatient personality.
5. He has no sense of direction so the manager often has to look for Baekhyun in the street.
6. He draws thick eyeliner.
7. He spent the shortest time in trainee among the members of EXO-K, which is 11 months.
8. He was a vocal of his band in high school. He has to change his vocal to fit into the dance group.
9. He hates cucumber and eggplant.
10. His Chinese pronunciation is the worst in the group, but his Japanese pronunciation is the best in the group.
11. He has an older brother.
12. His favorite number is 48!
13. His favorite colors are black, grey and white.
14. Baekhyun loves listening to R&B, pop and punk.
15. He admires the singer Rain.
16. He’s Christian.
17. He’s left-handed.
18. He was in a rock band during high school, and they won a rock performance contest once.
19. He sang the Korean anthem in the friendly football match, South Korea vs. Peru in 2013.
20. He dated Taeyeon from Girls’ Generation from June 2014 to September 2015.

Quick Facts

1. He likes his family, especially his father who affected him in his musical sense.
2. He hates bugs. He also is allergic to them.
3. He can fix electronics very well.
4. He has very big eyes. Because of lack of eyelid to cover the eyes, he has dry eye syndrome.
5. He was the last member of EXO to be announced in teaser movies.
6. He had a bad eye sight. After his debut, he had LASIK eye surgery.
7. He likes to read webcomics.
8. He calls himself “happy virus” for his optimistic personality.
9. He appeared twice in SNSD music video before his debut.
10. When other members are tired and seem to fall asleep in the car, to cheer them up, he wakes them up by screaming.
11. He has an older sister, whom he’s really close to.
12. His favorite number is 21.
13. His favorite color is black.
14. His favorite music genres are hip hop, dubstep and rock.
15. His ideal type is Dara (Sandara) from 2NE1.
16. He loves animals and had a lot of pets while growing up, but is allergic to cats.
17. His nicknames are Yoda and Dumbo, because he has slightly big ears.
18. He had a band in high school, called Siren.
19. He went to the same high school as Jooheon of Monsta X, and the same acting school as P.O from Block B.
20. Chanyeol has very versatile tastes in music – he loves Muse, Radiohead, Eminem and Jason Mraz.

About

D.O is the main tenor of the group and is the member who is most active at acting; he’s filmed a lot of dramas during the years, out of which the most popular one was “It’s okay, that’s love”.

He’s known to be very reserved and very quiet, but when it comes to cooking, D.O is the one in charge of the kitchen!

Contrary to how he looks with a cute face, he is very quiet and sensitive. He is very shy especially of strangers.

His voice changes in front of strangers because he is nervous. He is even shy in front of his fans.

His voice is very unique and has a good rhythmic sense. His voice is appreciated by the critics for being suitable for R&B. Because of his unique vocals, he often sings the intro of EXO’s songs.

He took singing lessons and was a trainee during high school, but he managed to keep it a secret from his classmates because of his introvert personality; however, he gets along really well with all the guys from EXO and his shyness was also reduced a bit after discovering how much he enjoys acting.

In February 2016, D.O released a solo single, titled “Tell me (what is love)”.

Quick Facts

1. On his debut stage, he was very nervous, he made a mistake. Many of his nicknames originate from that mistake.
2. When he became a trainee, he did not tell anyone in school about it.
3. His father is an artist, and his mother is a hair stylist. D.O. himself has an artistic talent. He drew the artwork on the cover of the first album XOXO.
4. His height is not made public officially. He is the shortest in the group.
5. He likes perfumes.
6. He is a friend with Lim Hyun-sik in BTOB.
7. He is indifferent to fashion. He only has black clothes in his wardrobe.
8. He is very good at billiard.
9. Almost every fan calls him by his real name, Kyung-soo.
10. His lips become heart shaped when he smiles.
11. He has an older brother.
12. His favorite number is 1.
13. His favorite color is black.
14. His favorite song is “Billionaire” by Bruno Mars.
15. He is Christian.
16. His ideal type of girl is one with a beautiful smile.
17. His talent is beatboxing.
18. Others say that he is very quiet and reserved.
19. He’s talented for cooking.
20. He admires Beyonce and Eric Benet.

About

Kai is the face of the group, and the first member of EXO to ever be presented; the burden was heavy for him, but that made him the fan favorite in South Korea and truly made his popularity rise.

But Kai is not the leader of the group, rather, he’s the leading dancer, as he moves gracefully and with precision.

KAI means “to open” in Chinese. He started learning Jazz dance since second grade in Elementary School.

In fourth grade, he went to a ballet concert, Nutcracker, and moved by the performance, he decided to learn ballet. In his later years, he learned street and urban dance to become a singer like Shinhwa.

He entered SM Entertainment when he was the second grade in junior high school.

He was trained in various types of dance, including ballet, jazz ballet and hip hop dancing, and for many years in a row, he’s been called “The king of dance” as he topped lists in which idol dancers were evaluated and praised.

It is no wonder that his idol is Michael Jackson, the Western king of dance and R&B.

Kai never recorded a solo single, apart from some collaborations with Taemin, on the song “Pretty boy”, and with f(x).

Quick Facts

1. He has the darkest skin in the group.
2. He likes soccer very much. His favorite player is Fernando Torres of Chelsea FC.
3. He likes reading comics. His favorite comic as a kid was Dragon Ball. He had read it more than ten times.
4. He likes animals. He describes other members as animals.
5. His favorite food is fried chicken.
6. When he was young, he has long hair. He was often mistaken for a girl.
7. He does not like coffee for its bitterness.
8. His favorite fruits are strawberries.
9. He does not like to wear socks probably because he used to do ballet.
10. Because he has bad eye sight, the first thing he does in the morning is wearing contact lenses.
11. He has two older sisters.
12. He has a habit of singing in the shower!
13. His favorite music genres are hip hop and R&B.
14. He admires Michael Jackson and the K-pop group Shinhwa.
15. His ideal type is a girl with a similar personality as his, someone simple and gentle.
16. He has three dogs, Monggu, Jjanggu and Jjangah.
17. He is Catholic.
18. He supports the football club Chelsea.
19. He was voted number 1 on the list of “Best Idol Dancers” in 2014.

About

Sehun is only an occasional vocalist in the group, but he’s a really talented rapper and dancer; rapping is his strong suit, and that is noticeable from his love of hip hop.

He is also the youngest, but he was a trainee for 4 full years before becoming a part of EXO.

He was scouted on the street when he was in 6th grade in elementary school by a casting manager. His initial reaction was suprising: he ran away. Sehun and the manager ran for 30 minutes before they could talk.

He is very jolly and thoughtful of others. As he is the youngest, he tries to liven up the mood in the group.

Nowadays, Sehun is busy with making movies and acting, as he was announced to be the lead role in the fantasy/comedy/romance “Catman”, scheduled to be released in 2017; the movie was filmed during 2016 in both South Korea and China, and people can’t wait to see him as the leading role in a romantic comedy.

Quick Facts

1. He likes bubble tea very much. According to other members, he used to drink bubble tea more than 3 times a week.
2. He likes sweets, especially anything chocolate. He likes chocolate cakes, chocolate milk, chocolate bubble tea, etc.
3. He wanted to be a president when he was in elementary school. He had the same name as the major of Seoul of that time so he was teased by friends. He said he wanted to be something bigger than the major of Seoul.
4. He is called Se-foy by his fans, referring to Malfoy of Harry Potter series, because of his hairstyle.
5. He was the first among Korean members to have SNS account.
6. He seems to be sensitive to smell. He often smells other members.
7. He dyed his hair 16 times in 9 months during the first album.
8. He is a good dancer, but his singing is not as good as his dancing. He is improving.
9. His face has a proportion of a golden ratio.
10. As he is the youngest, he feels a responsibility to act cute and charming.
11. He is an ex-ulzzang (person known for their good looks).
12. His ideal type is an innocent, beautiful and fun girl.
13. His favorite colors are black and white.
14. His favorite music genre is hip hop.
15. He admires Jackie Chan and BoA.
16. He is Christian.
17. He’s a fan of the model Miranda Kerr.
18. He’s afraid of being alone on an elevator.
19. He will star in the movie “”Catman”” planned for 2017.
20. At the MAMA 2015 award show, Seungri from BIGBANG sat on his lap while singing the song “”Bae bae””.

About

Xiumin is the eldest and most popular member of EXO, according to polls conducted in South Korea; he is also very popular among women in South Korea, which voted him as the most desirable idol in 2015.

He is a member of EXO and EXO-M. He entered a singing contest hosted by SM Entertainment in 2008. He won the second place and became the trainee.

He was selected as a member of EXO-M even though he is a Korean because his appearance matched the atmosphere of the group.

Xiumin worked hard to earn his current status, and stature as well – he used to be bullied and called ‘fatty’ in school, which made him sad, but it also made him stronger and more determined to get in shape and show everyone what he can do.

Before debuting, he lost 13 kg and started playing football, which he loves and enjoys playing whenever he can; he and EXO’s ex-member Luhan were inseparable because of this.

He had solo ventures in singing and acting: he recorded a song with AOA‘s Jimin, called “Call you bae”, and acted in one musical and one movie.

Quick Facts

1. He likes cleaning.
2. He used to do many sports like Taekwondo, Kendo, Fencing, etc.
3. His favorite subject is Mathematics, and the least favorite subject is language.
4. He first dreamed of becoming a singer after the concert of TVXQ.
5. He likes coffee. He says he wants to get the barista license if he has time.
6. He is doing a masters course in Music.
7. At first, before he went on a diet, many people said he looks like Ahn So-hee of Wondergirls.
8. He used to have ducks and chickens as pets when he was young.
9. If he hadn’t become a singer, he would have become a teacher.
10. He is strongest in arm wrestle among the members of EXO.
11. He used to be a trainee at JYP Entertainment; he was a trainee in SM for 4 years before EXO debuted.
12. His favorite colors are white, orange and mint.
13. His ideal type of girl is someone with a good personality, he doesn’t care about appearance.
14. He was voted the most popular member of EXO in South Korea.
15. He used to be chubby when he was younger; he dropped a significant amount of weight before debuting.
16. He is Christian.
17. He used to work at a cafe, and alongside a colleague from work, he created a coffee called “Candy Pop”.
18. He was classmates with Infinite‘s Dongwoo, and the two are very close.
19. His favorite type of songs are ballads.
20. He’s afraid of heights.

About

Lay is a member of EXO and EXO-M. He was cast by SM Entertainment when he entered a contest in China. Afterwards, he came to Korea in October 2008.

He is the businessman and composer of the group and he always seems to be up to something; possibly one of the busiest men in Asia, Lay sings, dances, acts and hosts when he’s not composing songs.

His ability to compose and play the piano without looking at notes has been acknowledged by some of the best composers in China, and he did a lot for both EXO’s and his solo career by making songs that turned out to be hits.

In May 2016, Lay composed and released his solo single “Monodrama” which topped the charts in Chinese radio stations, and during the entire year, Lay has been and will be busy filming features and the game-variety show “Go, fighting!”, where he’s a regular member.

We may expect to see Lay in movies “Kung Fu yoga”, “Unexpected love” and “Go fighting, the movie”; in 2015, Lay was well known for the movie “Ex Files 2” for which he also sang the theme song.

He cares for his fan very much. He had fans before his debut because of exposure on TV in China and he says his fans are who support him whenever he has hard times in Korea.

Quick Facts

1. He likes to take showers. He takes 2-4 showers a day.
2. He likes MCM products. He collects them by colors.
3. He cannot have a meal without soda.
4. He calls his fans his heroes.
5. He often mispronounces his self-introduction in Japanese. Fans like to tease him about it.
6. He respects Lee Soo-man, the producer of SM Entertainment.
7. He likes to cook.
8. He uses Changsha dialect when he speaks Chinese.
9. He often introduces the songs he wrote.
10. The gap between his face when he is tired and his face in the public is very big.
11. His nickname is Unicorn.
12. He loves fast food.
13. His specialty is playing the piano (without notes!)
14. He suffers from hemophilia, which causes slower healing of wounds, which is why he’s a bit weaker than other.
15. He composed and performed the song “My Girl” in 2001, when he was only 10 years old.
16. He was praised by the renowned Chinese composer Jen Wei Yuan for his composing skills.
17. His role model is the Chinese actor and singer JJ Lin.
18. In 2015 and 2016, Lay starred in 5 movies.
19. He wrote an autobiography titled “Standing firm at 24” (2015).
20. He’s a regular member on the Chinese game-variety program “Go, Fighting!”

About

Chen is another composer and songwriter of EXO, who is very close to all the members despite not looking so; he loves being friendly, and even Chanyeol from his group told him that he’s sometimes too nice!

Chen’s kind nature is reflected in his voice as well, as he is one of the main vocalists, and was voted in the top three best idol singers in 2014 on Mnet; many fans also agree that Chen is the best singer of EXO.

He’s a very devoted Catholic, and he even has a baptized name – Mateo; he donates money to churches and charities, and he even single-handedly helped the restoration of a church in his hometown.

Chen isn’t involved in any solo activities apart from guest starring on the song “Lil’ Something” with hip hop stars Vibe and Heize in April 2016.

Quick Facts

1. His specialties are beatboxing and singing high notes.
2. He’s Catholic; his baptized name is Mateo.
3. He loves to listen to hip hop, but enjoys many musical genres.
4. His role models are members of Super Junior.
5. His ideal type is a girl with beautiful eyes and a good heart, who can stand his complaining.
6. His favorite color is pink.
7. He was voted as the third best idol singer in 2014 (on Mnet’s poll).
8. He loves watching videos on YouTube.
9. He donated 300,000 won to a church in his hometown to help restore it.
10. His favorite beverage is coffee and his favorite foods are spicy foods.